What’s hot: October 2013

CD-Traveller tells you what’s hot and what’s not in the travel world. This month Southend and Spain are both in the spotlight, if for different reasons

HOTFukushima
The area around the Fukushima nuclear plant – the centre of the world’s second worst nuclear accident in 2011 – in Japan is to be opened as a tourist attraction. Plans have been put forward to build a village at the edge of the exclusion site that will commemorate the disaster.

Hobart
Hobart has been voted the world’s second friendliest city by Conde Nast Traveler readers. The Tasmanian city was singled out as being a “truly unique part of the world, filled with kind, friendly” locals. The world’s most unfriendliest city? Take a bow Newark in New Jersey.

In-flight entertainment with Little Red

Flying with Little Red – Virgin Atlantic’s offshoot domestic carrier – in the near future? Expect some rather elaborate entertainment…. Live music acts will become the norm as Virgin Atlantic founder Richard Branson looks to “shake up domestic flying in the UK.”

The only way is Essex

London Southend airport (despite the misleading name, the airport is in Essex), has been hailed Britain’s best airport in a recent survey carried out by consumer watchdog Which? The airport was praised for its speed of check in, design, food outlets and facilities. However Luton airport didn’t fare so well with an overall customer score of 43 per cent compared to Southend’s 84 per cent.

Disney in Africa

Zimbabwe’s tourism board has announced plans to construct a $300m theme park complete with casinos and shopping centres, next to Victoria Falls in a bid to boost tourism. Walter Mzembi, the tourism and hospitality minister, was quoted as saying the resort would be a “Disneyland in Africa”.

NOT

Red Sea
Despite the Foreign and Commonwealth Office declaring that the Red Sea resorts were safe for tourists, holidaymakers in Hurghada have been warned to stay in their hotels. Elsewhere Egyptian military police have stationed themselves in Sharm El Sheikh, in case of violence spreads.

Safety in China
People are being put off visiting China owing to the county’s persistent pollution problems (in January 2013, pollution in Beijing was 40 times the World Health Organisation’s safe limit.) The number of foreign visitors entering China between January and June 2013 was five per cent lower compared with the same period last year.

Travel agents
US based recruitment site, careercast.com, has declared the position of ‘travel agent’ to be one of the world’s most useless jobs claiming that the age of the internet has made us all travel agents. Travel association ABTA hit back, claiming that agents “had evolved with the times.”

Tickets to La Tomatina

La Tomatina, Bunol, Spain

August 2013 saw La Tomatina – aka the world’s biggest food fight – charge visitors a minimum of £8.60 each to attend the festival in the tiny Spanish town of Bunol. As a result the number of people pelting tomatoes at each other dropped dramatically.

Barcelona
The Spanish city of Barcelona is the destination whereby you’re most likely to fall victim to a travel scam, according to a poll of 2,000 British tourists commissioned by Generator Hostels. Paris and Rome claimed second and third spot respectively.